Our man Stan! Swiss and Germans battle over Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka lifts the trophy after his win in the Australian Open (Picture REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic)

Stanislas Wawrinka’s epic Australian Open win over Rafeal Nadal on Sunday has caused something of a diplomatic incident.

Swiss newspapers are accusing their German counterparts of ‘stealing’ Stan after the 28-year-old clinched his first grand slam title in Melbourne.

According to website The Local, the normally mild mannered Swiss are fuming after German tabloid Bild Zeitung ran a picture of the triumphant Stan under the headline ‘The German Tennis Sensation’ – a banner rival paper 20 Minutes said would ‘cause many Swiss fans to choke’.

Bild have cited the fact that they can call Wawrinka one of their own as he holds dual Swiss and German nationality.

However, this stance has been dismissed by another Swiss paper, Blick, who point out that Stan’s great-grandfather, via whom he acquired his German passport, had only lived in Germany for a short time after fleeing Czechoslovakia in 1946.

The newspaper also added that Stan, who was born in Lausanne, spoke no German and was classed as Swiss by tennis’ governing body the ATP.

It went on to suggest that Bild’s report was all down to sour grapes due to their current lack of tennis stars.